E3 2012: Sony keynote wrap-up

Like Microsoft, Sony’s E3 2012 keynote was about software, not hardware — Nintendo is the only one talking about a new console this year. Sony didn’t have a long list of new titles to announce, and much of their presentation was elaborations on already known games, like Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed 3, and God of War: Ascension — all of which had gameplay footage or live demonstrations.

Playstation All-Stars, though it has taken some flack for being a clear knock-off of Nintendo’s Smash Brothers series, looked good in its PS3/Playstation Vita cross-platform play demo. After the fun and chaos was done, Sony announced two new playable characters for All-Stars: Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series (no surprise) and a Big Daddy from Bioshock (somewhat more of a surprise).

Quantic Dream, the developer behind the acclaimed PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain and the impressive KARA tech demo, unveiled their new game Beyond Two Souls. The game’s trailer didn’t reveal any actual gameplay (though the safe bet is that it will be the same sort of adventure game as Heavy Rain and its predecessor Fahrenheit), but it’s clear that the new title will stray into supernatural themes with its mysterious, psychokinetic female lead.

One of the highlights of the keynote was Wonderbook, which is launching this fall. It’s a new augmented reality peripheral that seems to be a clear evolution of Sony’s Move-focused Eyepet. The concept behind Wonderbook is to create interactive storybooks. J.K. Rowling’s Book of Spells, a tie-in to the author’s Pottermore website, will let players use Move controllers as wands as they learn spells from the Harry Potter universe. Sony teased another Wonderbook title, Digg’s Nightcrawler, but didn’t have any details beyond its incredibly cool name.

Sony finished their presentation with a chilling demonstration of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, and its grim, powerful depiction of video game violence. Though the gameplay shares certain similarities with the Uncharted titles that precede it, the atmosphere is completely different. Naughty Dog has endeavored to create a game world where violence is taken seriously, and it shows. If you only watch one trailer from Sony’s keynote, this should be it. (Watch out, it’s NSFW.)